Privacy

Policy

This privacy policy
("Policy") explains how personal information is collected, used, and
disclosed by Media Matters for America (collectively "Media
Matters," "we" or "us") with respect to your use of the Web sites
located at mediamatters.org and
action.mediamatters.org and
any other Web sites, mobile sites and mobile applications that link to
this Policy (collective the "Sites") so you can make an informed decision
about using the Sites.

We reserve the right to change the provisions of this Policy at any time.
We will alert you that changes have been made by indicating on the Policy
the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review this Policy from
time to time to make sure that you understand how any personal information
you provide will be used.

Last revised: May 14, 2015

What Is Personal Information?

As used herein, the term "personal information" means information that
specifically identifies an individual (such as a name, address, telephone
number, mobile number, e-mail address, or credit card number) and information
about that individual or his or her activities that is directly linked to
personally identifiable information. Personal information does not include
"aggregate" information, which is data we collect about the use of the Sites
or about a group or category of services or users, from which individual
identities or other personal information has been removed. This Policy in no
way restricts or limits our collection and use of aggregate information.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

Active Collection:

Personal information may be collected in a number of ways when you visit our
Sites. We collect certain information you directly provide to us, such as when
you create an account or a profile, make a donation, send us an email, sign up
to receive email or text message updates, fill out a form, sign a petition,
register for an event, connect through a social feed, sign up to be a
volunteer, or request information. Such information may include personal
information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, phone number,
and credit card information. Personal and demographic information may also be
collected if you provide such information in connection with creating a
profile or group, leaving comments, posting blog comments or other content,
sending an email or message to another user, or participating in any
interactive forums or features on the Sites. In addition, from time to time we
may collect demographic, contact or other personal information you provide in
connection with your participation in surveys, contests, games, promotions,
and other activities on the Sites.

Passive Collection:

When you use the Sites, some information is also automatically collected,
such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your operating system, the
browser type, the address of a referring web site, and your activity on our
Sites. We treat this information as personal information if we combine it with
or link it to any of the identifying information mentioned above. Otherwise,
it is used in the aggregate only.

We may also automatically collect certain information through the use of
"cookies" or web beacons. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard
drive at the request of a website. Among other things, cookies help us improve
our Sites and your experience. Information obtained from cookies and linked to
personally identifying information is treated as personal information. If you
wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies, please refer to your browser
manufacturer to learn about these functions. When you view a video on our
Sites, a third party may also set a "flash cookie" on your computer. Removing
and rejecting browser cookies does not necessarily affect third party flash
cookies used in connection with our Sites. To delete or disable flash cookies,
please visit http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/security for
more information. However, if you choose to remove or reject browser or flash
cookies, this could affect certain features on our Sites. Web beacons are
small, invisible graphic images that may be used on the Sites or in emails
relating to the Sites to collect certain information about usage and campaign
effectiveness and monitor user activity on the Sites.

Collection By Third Parties:

Third party vendors, including but not limited to Google, may use cookies or
other technologies to provide analytics services to help us analyze use of the
Sites and to serve ads on other websites based on your visits to this site and
other sites on the Internet. Google Analytics features based on Display
Advertising, including Google Analytics Demographics and Interests Reporting,
may use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and
third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) to provide an overview of
the age and gender of users, along with the interests they express in their
online activities. In addition, NationBuilder, the platform that hosts and
operates our Take Action Portal (the "Portal"), may place cookies when you
visit the Portal to improve your experience, such as to help you log in faster
and enhance your navigation through the Portal. These third parties may
automatically collect information about your visits to this and other
websites, your IP address, your ISP, and the browser you use to visit our
Site. Information collected may be used, among other things, to analyze and
track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising
and content on other websites targeted to your interests and to better
understand the usage and visitation of our Sites and the other sites tracked
by these third parties. This Policy does not apply to, and we are not
responsible for, cookies or other technologies used by third parties. If you
would like to opt out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising, use the
Google Ad Settings tool: https://www.google.com/settings/ads. If you would
like to opt out of cookies relating to advertising networks or obtain more
information related to third party advertising networks, click here:
http://www.networkadvertising.org.

How Do We Use the Personal Information We Collect?

We use personal information collected through our Sites for the purposes
described in this Policy or elsewhere on the Sites. For example, we may use
personal information we collect:

to provide the information, alerts, products and services you
request, and to process and complete such requests and any related
transactions;

to send you confirmations, updates, alerts, and support and
administrative messages and otherwise facilitate your use of, and our
administration and operation of, the Sites;

to notify you about important changes to the Sites;

to send you newsletters and otherwise provide you with information or
services you request or that we think will be of interest to you, such
as sending you information to keep you informed about various campaigns,
candidates, issues, events, resources, promotions, contests, products
and services;

to solicit volunteers, donations and support for Media
Matters and for issues, candidates and organizations that we
support;

to request feedback and to otherwise contact you about your use of the
Sites;

to respond to your emails, submissions, questions, comments, and
requests and to provide customer service;

to monitor and analyze site usage and trends, and to personalize and
improve the Site and our users' experiences on the Site, such as
providing content, or features that match your profiles or interests,
and to increase the Site's functionality and user friendliness;

to serve ads, on this or other Web sites or media, based on the
information you provide and the actions you take;

to notify and contact contest and sweepstakes entrants; and

for any other purpose for which the information was collected.

What Personal Information Do We Share With Third Parties?

It is our policy not to share the personal information we collect from you
through our Sites with third parties, except as described in this Policy or as
otherwise disclosed on the Sites. For example, we may share personal
information as follows:

with vendors, consultants, and other service providers or volunteers
who are engaged by or working with us and who need access to such
information to carry out their work for us, including without limitation
NationBuilder, who operates the software system that we rely on to
operate our Take Action Portal;

in support of our efforts to monitor, analyze and correct conservative
misinformation in the media, provided that we will not provide your
personal information to any individual or organization for the purpose
of contacting for any commercial purpose;

when you give us your consent to do so, including if we notify you on
the Sites, that the information you provide will be shared in a
particular manner and you provide such information;

when we believe in good faith that we are lawfully authorized or
required to do so or that doing so is reasonably necessary or
appropriate to comply with the law or legal processes or respond to
lawful requests, claims or legal authorities, including responding to
lawful subpoenas, warrants, or court orders;

when we believe in good faith that doing so is reasonably necessary or
appropriate to respond to claims or to protect the rights, property, or
safety of Media Matters, our users, our employees, our
volunteers, copyright owners, third parties or the public, including
without limitation to protect such parties from fraudulent, abusive,
inappropriate, or unlawful activity or use of our Site;

to enforce or apply this Policy, our Terms of Use, or our other
policies or agreements; and

in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger,
reorganization, asset sale or transfer, financing or lending transaction
or in any other situation where personal information may be disclosed or
transferred as one of the assets of Media Matters.

We are not responsible for the actions of any service providers or
other third parties, nor are we responsible for any additional
information you provide directly to any third parties, and we encourage
you to become familiar with their privacy practices before disclosing
information directly to any such parties. Nothing herein restricts the
sharing of aggregated or anonymized information, which may be shared
with third parties without your consent.

Online petitions:

If you sign an online petition, you understand that such petition is public
information and that we may make the petition, and your name, city, state, and
any comments provided in connection therewith to the target of the petition
and in some cases publicly available. Generally, we only include your first
name and last initial and state when we send petitions, plus any comments you
make, but we may in some cases provide full names and cities as well. In
addition, we may provide such petitions or compilations thereof, including
your comments, name, city, and state to national, state or local leaders, or
to the press.

Interactive Features:

You understand that when you use the Sites, information you post in your
profile, blogs, forums and other interactive areas of the Sites, as well as
any information you share with individuals through the Sites or share through
social network sites, will be available to other users and, in some cases, may
be publicly available. We recommend you be cautious about giving out personal
information to others or sharing personal information in public or private
online forums.

Social Plugins:

The Sites may use social plugins ("Plugins"), which lets friends share
actions they take across web sites (e.g. the Facebook "Like" button). Plugins
are generally identifiable by the logo for the applicable social network or
other notice indicating the use of a Plugin. When you visit a page of our
website that contains a Plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection
to the servers of the social network providing the Plugin, which enables that
social network to receive certain information, such as information about your
having accessed the respective page of our Site. If you are logged into the
applicable social network, your visit can be assigned to the account of such
social network. If you interact with the Plugins, for example by clicking
"Like," or entering a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted
from your browser directly to the social network providing the Plugin and is
stored by it. Even if you are not logged into that social network, there is
possibility that the Plugins transmit certain information, such as your
IP-address, to the applicable social networks. For information on the purpose
and scope of data collection and processing by such social networks, as well
as your rights in this respect and settings options for protecting your
privacy please visit the privacy policy page for the social network providing
the Plugin. If you do not want the social networks providing the Plugins to
connect the data concerning your visit to our website with your member data
already stored by such social networks, you must log off all such social
networks before entering our website. Simply closing the social network page
does not suffice.

Links to Other Web Sites

Our Sites may contain links to other Web sites. Any personal information you
provide on the linked pages is provided directly to that third party and is
subject to that third party's privacy policy. This Policy does not apply to
such linked sites, and we are not responsible for the content or privacy and
security practices and policies of these websites or any other sites that are
linked to from our Sites. We encourage you to learn about their privacy and
security practices and policies before providing them with personal
information.

What Steps Do We Take To Protect Your Information Online?

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information in an effort
to prevent loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and
destruction. Please be aware, however, that despite our efforts, no security
measures are perfect or impenetrable and no method of data transmission that
can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. To protect
the confidentiality of personal information, you must keep your password
confidential and not disclose it to any other person. You are responsible for
all uses of our web sites by any person using your password. Please advise us
immediately if you believe your password has been misused.

What Choices Do You Have Regarding the Use of Your
Information?

You may "opt out" of receiving email updates and newsletters by following the
instructions in those emails or by emailing us at action@mediamatters.org with
the word "remove" in the subject line. Please note that we may still send you
other types of emails, such as emails about your use of our Sites, or use
information as otherwise described in this Policy, even if you opt out of
receiving email updates and newsletters. You can review or modify information
stored in your user account by emailing us at action@mediamatters.org.
Changes to information in your account does not affect information provided to
others as set forth in this policy, including in connection with petitions or
donations or that has been previously shared.